3 Geneva Residents Seek Civil Award Against Sheriff

SANFORD -- Three residents of Geneva are seeking civil damages against Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger for their arrests in June 1998 as forest fires ravaged northeast Seminole County.

Mark Tague, his wife, Kathleen, and brother Stephen Tague were arrested as they and relatives used buckets of water and shovels to battle a fire that approached the couple's home.

The Tagues were upset that firefighters were standing by instead of actively fighting the fire. The firefighters, who felt the Tague house was not in danger, called for deputy sheriffs to remove them, a defense attorney said.

The confrontation led to arrests.

John Dill, an attorney for the Tagues, said Kathleen Tague was "manhandled" by deputies as they handcuffed her and then dragged her by her hair. When her husband and brother-in-law heard her screams, they ran to find out what was happening and deputies drew their firearms.

Stephen Tague, who deputies said ran toward them with a shovel over his head, was charged with aggravated assault on a law-enforcement officer, but he was later acquitted. Kathleen Tague pleaded no contest to resisting arrest without violence. Mark Tague was taken to jail, but charges were never filed against him.

The civil suit claims that all were falsely or improperly arrested.

Former Seminole County Deputy Sheriff Perry Dreggors, who was accused of hitting Stephen Tague in the head with a large flashlight, had been named in the suit, but he was dropped as a defendant before the trial opened Monday afternoon. He now works for the Longwood Police Department and is expected to testify during the three-day trial.

A defense attorney argued that the Tagues had been drinking. Attorney Jeff Grant said the Tagues were fighting the fire "with buckets in one hand and beers in the other."